Minutewomen Looking For Record-Extending Sixth Atlantic 10 Championship• The No. 13/13 UMass women's lacrosse team will seek its sixth-straight Atlantic 10 Tournament Title this weekend as the top-seeded Minutewomen take on fourth-seed Duquesne on Friday in the semifinal round. The winner will face the winner of the other semifinal match-up in second-seed Richmond and third-seed La Salle. The Atlantic 10 Champion will earn the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. • This will mark the fourth time UMass and Duquesne have met in the Atlantic 10 Championships. UMass defeated the Dukes last season for the league title in Amherst. • The Minutewomen enter the conference tournament after posting a 16-1 record during the regular season and a perfect 7-0 mark in A-10 play (for the fourth straight year). UMass won the league's regular-season title for the fifth time in six years. • This will be the 14th time UMass has made the A-10 Tournament since the league began sponsoring women's lacrosse in 1999. The Minutewomen have reached the A-10 championship game in six consecutive seasons (2008-13). Along with the 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 league titles, UMass also won the tournament title in 2000. • UMass enters the weekend with a 38-game win streak in hand against Atlantic 10 opponents.

UMass In The Atlantic 10 Tournament• In 13 appearances in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, UMass sports a 14-7 overall record. UMass made it to the Championship Game in 2000, 2003, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013 - winning the Tournament title in 2000, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2013. • UMass has played Richmond seven times; Temple four times; George Wahington and Duquesne three times; Virginia Tech twice; and La Salle and Saint Joseph's once. • Friday will be the fourth meeting between UMass and Duquesne. The two teams met last season in the A-10 Championship game with the Minutewomen winning 14-7 in Amherst. UMass defeated the Dukes this season 16-8 in Pittsburgh for the regular-season finale. • UMass has played four overtime games in its A-10 Tournament history posting a 4-0 record. Two of those OT wins were for the league championship titles. • 2014 marks the fifth time UMass has entered the A-10 Tournament as the No. 1 Seed. In 2000, UMass finished the season in a three-way tie for 1st, but were the No. 2 seed in the tournament. • UMass entered the Tournament for the fourth straight season coming off an undefeated run through the Atlantic 10 schedule - 7-0 in league play in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014. • UMass passed Temple for the most A-10 Championship titles (6) and for consecutive titles won (5) - a league record for both.

2014 A-10 Postseason Honors • After a 16-1 regular season and an undefeated run through conference play, a total of nine UMass women's lacrosse student-athletes earned Atlantic 10 Lacrosse postseason honors as announced by the league on Thursday. The group was headlined by senior Kate Ferris earning her third career A-10 Player of the Year award, while a program record five players earned first team recognition. • UMass, ranked No. 13 nationally, also had a program-high four players named to the A-10 All-Academic Team. • Joining Ferris on the Atlantic 10 First Team was attack Sam Rush, midfielder Tanner Guarino, defender Kelsey Sheridan, and defender Kelsey McGovern. Earning second team honors were midfielder Melissa Carelli and goalie Rachel Vallarelli. Freshman midfielder Hannah Murphy was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team. • On the Academic All-Conference Team were Ellie Bullitt, Carelli, McGovern, and Sheridan.

UMass Among The 2014 NCAA Stat Leaders • For the 2014 campaign, UMass has been among the NCAA leaders in several categories. UMass is the No. 1 team in scoring margin thanks to a defense that's ranked 2nd nationally allowing just 6.29 goals per game. Offensively, UMass is the No. 7 scoring team averaging 14.82 goals per game. UMass ranks 3rd overall in total points this year (375), while also ranking in the top-10 for caused turnovers (3rd, 11.35/game) and groundballs (11th, 18.88/game). • Individually, Katie Ferris ranks 9th in assists (36) and 8th in points (76). Sam Rushranks 5th in goals (60) and 22nd in points (68).Rachel Vallarelli ranks 2nd in goals-against-average (6.23) and 26th in save percentage (.462).

UMass One Of The Top NCAA Teams Over Last Four Years• With a record of 70-9, three Atlantic 10 Championships and three trips to the NCAA Tournament, UMass has been one of the top teams nationally over the last four years. • The 70 wins are the SECOND MOST for any team in the four year time span (including 2014). Maryland leads the nation in wins with a 80-7 record over that time span followed by Northwestern (70-12) which is tied with UMass. The Minutewomen are ahead of Florida (67-12), Navy (64-14), North Carolina (61-17), and Syracuse (63-18). • Statistically, UMass has ranked among the nation's elite in points, scoring offense and scoring defense. In 2013, UMass was 3rd in points (467), 5th in scoring offense (14.76) and 9th in scoring defense (8.24). UMass led the nation in points in 2012 (491), was 2nd in offense (15.81) and ranked 11th in scoring defense (9.0). The 2011 campaign ended with UMass ranked 7th nationally in points (388), 5th in scoring offense (14.65) and 10th in scoring defense (8.70). This season, UMass ranks 3rd in points (375), 7th in scoring offense (14.82), and 2nd in scoring defense (6.29).

Top 15 RPI For UMass Over The Last 3 Years• In the final 2013 RPI report from the NCAA, UMass finished No. 11 and was the highest ranked Atlantic 10 program. • UMass finished 2012 with a No. 6 RPI according to the final NCAA report making it the highest ranked A-10 team. • With a No. 9 RPI this week, that marks three straigt years UMass has had a top 15 RPI - a program record.

9-0 Start 4th Best In Program History• The win over Southern California gave UMass its fourth-best start to a season in program history at 9-0. The best start was in 1979 at 15-0 followed by a 13-0 start during the 1980 season. In 1982, UMass was a perfect 10-0 for the season - the only undefeated season in program history and the year of the Minutewomen's National Championship title.

16 Wins Are 5th Most In Program History• UMass' 16 wins in 2014 are the 5th most in program history. The most wins in one year was 20 which occurred in 1978. The previous three years to this season yielded the other top win totals: 19 (2012), 18 (2013), 17 (2011).

45 Consecutive Weeks Ranked In Top 20 • Since the 2011 season, UMass has been ranked among the nation's top 20 in both the IWLCA Coaches Poll and the Brine Media Poll for 45 straight weeks. That is the longest span in program history to hold a ranking. • The highest rank during that span was when the Minutewomen reached No. 8 in the Brine Media Poll entering the 2013 NCAA Tournament and in the March 10, 2014 poll. UMass finished the 2012 regular-season at No. 9 in the deBeer Media Poll. • UMass was ranked No. 13 in both the IWLCA Coaches Poll and the Brine Media Poll to start the 2014 season. After opening the season 7-0, UMass was ranked No. 9 in the Brine Media Poll and No. 9 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll with the March 16 release. This week, UMass is No. 13 in the IWLCA Coaches Poll and No. 13 in the Brine media top-20.

Ferris Continues Climb On Career Charts • Senior attack Katie Ferriscontinues to re-write in the women's lacrosse all-time career record book. Last season, the native of Carthage, N.Y., became just the fourth person all-time to score 200 career points in the history of the UMass women's lacrosse program. She is the UMass career leader in points (321), goals (207), and assists (114). • In 2012, Ferris set the UMass single-season record for points (98), goals (59) and assists (39). Her 98 points was also a new Atlantic 10 record breaking Jami Wilus' record of 94 set in 2001. • Ferris enters the weekend as the second active leading career point scorer in the NCAA (321) behind Syracuse's Alyssa Murray (332). Ferris is also the NCAA's fourth leading active career goal scorer with 207 which is behind Syracuse's Murray (208), Navy's Aimee Gennaro (208) and Vermont's Sydney Mas (217). Her 111 assists are the 6th most of any current player in the country.

Ferris 18th In NCAA History For Career Points • With 321 career points, senior attack Katie Ferrisis now the 18th all-time leading point scorer in NCAA history. She is the only Atlantic 10 player on the top-20 list, though Temple's Gail Cumming's (1985-88) is on the list prior to the league sponsoring the sport. • Ferris is just nine points shy of moving into 15th all-time.

Rush On The Cusp Of Re-Setting Goal Record • While Kate Ferris gets most of the publicity for re-writing the UMass record book, it's senior attack Sam Rushwho is doing some editing of her own. With a six-goal performance in the 2013 Atlantic 10 title game, Rush broke the program's single-season goal record with 61 for the year. Ferris had broken the record in each of the previous two seasons with 59 in 2012 being the old record. • Rush added four more goals in the NCAA Tournament First Round giving her 13 goals in three postseason games last year. • The senior currently ranks 3rd all-time in career goals at UMass with 169 after scoring 60 goals in 17 games. She needs two goals to move into 2nd all-time passing Pam Moryl (1982-85). • Rush also needs just six goals to break her single-season goals scored record of 65 which she set last year. • With six more points, Rush would also become the 5th player in program history to log 200+ points for a career.

Guarino On The Cusp Of 100 Goals • Tanner Guarinois one of the active leading scorers on the team this season with 94 goals and 143 points entering the Atlantic 10 Tournament. She needs six more goals this season to hit the 100 goal plateau. She is also one of the Minutewomen's top midfielders with 109 career groundballs, 80 draw controls and 66 caused turnovers.

McGovern Is Quick On The Draw • Aside from being one of the Minutewomen's top defensive players, Kelsey McGovernis also UMass' primary draw specialist. After recording 35 draw controls as a freshman and sophomore back-up Nina Sarcona, McGovern had a career year in 2013 with 110 to her credit. She broke the UMass career draw control record this year in the win over George Mason and now has 196 for her career. The 110 last season is the best single-season total in program history (Sarcona set the previous record in 2012 with 109 and holds the career record at 193) and makes her just the second player in program history to hit the century mark. • McGovern missed the 2013 Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament with a knee injury, but returned to play in the NCAA First Round against UConn where she hauled in a game-high eight draw controls. • Her 110 draw controls in 2013 ranks as the 11th-best mark in NCAA history for a single season. She needs eight more draw controls this season to crack the NCAA's top 20 list for all-time career individuals.

Vallarelli Steady In Goal • Rachel Vallarellihas quietly been one of the top performers on the defensive side of the ball. The goalie from Hartsdale, N.Y., is having her best career year in cage with a 6.23 goals-against-average and her second best year so far with a .462 save percentage. For her career, she has played in 46 games posting a 27-3 overall record. She has a career 7.40 goals-against-average and a .435 save percentage in nearly 2,000 minutes played. She ranks 2nd all-time at UMass in terms of wins and is 2nd in goals-against-average.

McMahon An Up-And-Coming Coach • In just four years as the head coach at UMass, Angela McMahonis already the second-winningest coach in program history in terms of wins (70) and is No. 1 in win percentage (.884). With a 54-7 record entering the 2014 season, she had the best overall record of any women's lacrosse coach in NCAA history in the first three years at a school - She ranks 2nd in terms of win percentage behind Maryland's Cindy Timchal who was 40-5 (.889) in her first 3 seasons with the Terps. McMahon's 70 career wins at UMass is second to just Hall of Famer Pam Hixon's 91 from 1979-87 which included 3 NCAA Tournament appearances and the 1982 NCAA National Championship.

McGuirk Magic• UMass is in its eighth year playing at McGuirk Alumni Stadium and is 49-17 all-time at the facility. Over the last four seasons, UMass is 35-3 at home including 11-0 in 2012, 10-0 in 2013, and 9-1 in 2014. • UMass had won 31 consecutive games at McGuirk before falling to Northwestern on March 25, 2014 (10-6). That ranks 3rd all-time in NCAA history for most consecutive home wins. The last time UMass lost at McGuirk Stadium was on March 26, 2011 - also against No. 2 Northwestern (17-7). • UMass was not scheduled to play any games this spring at Garber Field which is the home of the men's lacrosse team and the field hockey team. The women's lacrosse team previously played there until 2007. • Fans will see one of the most dramatic upgrades to the stadium facility happen this spring as a new UMass Football Training Facility and Press Box will begin construction. Both projects are slated to be completed in July 2014.

UMass Building Upon A-10 Success • UMass is 43-6 in the Atlantic 10 over the last six seasons which includes five A-10 Tournament Titles (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), five regular-season titles (2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) and one tournament runner-up finish (2008). • Since the loss against La Salle to end the 2010 regular season, UMass has won 38 consecutive games against A-10 teams (including A-10 tournament games) breaking the record of 25 set by Temple in 2001-03. • UMass' 28 consecutive regular-season conference wins (2011-2013) is the fourth longest such streak in NCAA history. • In addition to the past five straight A-10 Titles, UMass also won the A-10 title in 2000. • All-time, UMass is 78-29 (.710) in the Atlantic 10 and 13-7 (.533) in the A-10 Tournament. UMass also holds the league record for most regular-season wins (78) after passing former member Temple (74) this season. • UMass' five consecutive conference championship titles is the longest consecutive run in Atlantic 10 history. UMass' six Atlantic 10 Championships is also a league record.